Tuesday

Oct 8, 2019 at 4:26 PMOct 9, 2019 at 6:05 PM

The old Independent Life Tower on West Duval Street in Jacksonville, once Florida's tallest building, has been sold to a developer who plans to turn it into luxury apartments, a high-end rooftop restaurant and bar, and ground floor grocery.

A developer plans to breathe new life into a historic downtown Jacksonville high-rise — vacant for nearly 20 years — with luxury apartments, a rooftop restaurant and a grocery store.

The Axis Income Fund, including Augustine Development Group, recently paid $3.7 million for the 19-story, former Independent Life and Accident Insurance Co. building at 233 W. Duval St. The building is commonly known as the Independent Life Tower.

"We're planning on renovating it to a 140-unit luxury apartment complex, grocery store on the ground floor, and a very high-end rooftop restaurant and lounge, which will have dramatic views of downtown," said Bryan Greiner, company president.

Renovations will begin Jan. 1. The complete build-out will take an estimated 14 months, but Greiner said they hope to have some tenants in the building within 10 months.

The project represents about a $28 million investment.

The apartments will be on the second through 18th floor of the 64-year-old building. The grocery will be on the approximately 21,000-square foot ground floor and basement, according to the plans.

Augustine Development Group in St. Augustine also is renovating the old Ambassador Hotel — across the street from the Independent Life building — into a boutique hotel.

Greiner said the two projects will complement each other, as well as contribute to downtown growth and economic development.

The Independent Life tower encompasses 180,000 square feet.

The apartments will range from studio units of about 600-square feet up to those about 1,200-square feet with two or three bedrooms.

Greiner said the restaurant will serve "very high-end seafood and sushi." They are talking with a couple different operators for the restaurant, he said.

The ground floor grocery would be a first for that part of town. Currently, Harvey's Supermarket on North Liberty Street is the only market downtown. The company is talking with multiple supermarket chains about the project.

Built in 1955, the Independent Life building once was the tallest building in Florida. The building — west of Jacksonville City Hall and north of the federal courthouse — has been vacant about 20 years.

The Independent Life tower, Greiner said, was a good investment. It is very well-built structure, all steel and poured concrete and it's a Bauhaus design — a German style of architecture considered unique.

The property's most recent fair market assessment is slightly more than $2.2 million with the total value of the building assessed at $1.1 million, Duval County property records show.

West Duval Tower LLC, of Dexter, Mo., bought the building — which once housed JEA headquarters — for $550,100 in 1995, according to city records.

Greiner cited Jacksonville's "very pro-business present environment" in the city. Jacksonville, he said, is similar to Nashville, Tenn., in its transitioning period several years ago as it revitalized its downtown.

"We think there is a lot of value in downtown, a great employment base as you've seen with VyStar's recent acquisition moving over 1,000 employees to downtown," he said.

The Jaguars are doing well, and the team's owner Shad Khan is making significant investments in downtown, which they think is essential to the growth of the city, Greiner said.

"All of those economic indicators are just very positive," said Greiner, noting there is less than 5 percent vacancy rate in downtown.

Greiner said coupled with the Ambassador Hotel project, they are trying to create the neighborhood's own identity in that section of downtown.

"We're very pleased. Rooftops with permanent residents is really the goal. So the more permanent residents we can have in this area the better," he said.

Teresa Stepzinski: (904) 359-4075

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